Knox Jagger. The name inspires resent in every male at Sinclair University, want in every female, and contempt in Charlie Chase.

Charlie can be summed up in three words: independent, independent, and independent. To Charlie, Knox epitomizes everything that’s wrong with college males: prolific one-night stands, drunken senseless fights, and a body that hints at prioritizing gym time over study time.

As an up-and-coming writer for Sinclair University’s newspaper, Charlie’s tasked with getting to the bottom of who’s been dropping little white pills into girls’ drinks at parties. In an ocean of All-American boys sporting polo shirts and innocent smiles, Knox is the obvious suspect. As evidence piles up against the bad boy of Sinclair, Charlie becomes more and more certain it isn’t Knox. But when her drink is dosed at a party and she wakes up on Knox’s couch the next morning, Charlie’s left with more questions than answers when it comes to Knox Jagger.

How can Charlie ever hope to uncover the truth behind a guy so closed off he’s become . . .

I’m the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the CRASH series (HarperTeen, S&S UK), LOST & FOUND series, UP IN FLAMES (S&S UK), The EDEN TRILOGY, and a handful of others. I write stories about everyday kinds of people who find themselves in extraordinary kinds of situations. I tell love stories with happy endings because I believe in making the world a better place, and that’s one tiny way I can make it so. I’m one of those people who still believe in true love and soul mates, and would rather keep my head in the clouds any day over having my feet firmly on the ground.

First, I had to remember how to breathe. Then, I had to learn how to survive. Two years, three months and sixteen days had passed since I was the Rowe Stanton from before, since tragedy stole my youth and my heart went along with it.

When I left for college, I put a thousand miles between my future and my past. I’d made a choice—I was going to cross back to the other side, to live with the living. I just didn’t know how.

And then I met Nate Preeter.

An All-American baseball player, Nate wasn’t supposed to notice a ghost-of-a-girl like me. But he did. He shouldn’t want to know my name. But he did. And when he learned my secret and saw the scars it left behind, he was supposed to run. But he didn’t.

My heart was dead, and I was never supposed to belong to anyone. But Nate Preeter had me feeling, and he made me want to be his. He showed me everything I was missing.

And then he showed me how to fall.

Excerpt

“You ever make wishes?” he says, out of nowhere. His voice breaks the thick silence, and it makes my heart jump. I think it would have jumped at hearing him anyhow.

“All the time,” I say. “You?”

“Nah,” he says, and I start to laugh, but I realize he isn’t. “I just made my first one in years.”

Breathe.

“Oh yeah? You want Barbie back?”

“No,” he smiles. “I wished you were over here instead of there.”

Oh.

More seconds pass, and I let them slip into minutes, my eyes unable to leave his. He didn’t ask. He didn’t come up with some transparent scheme. He was just honest—perfectly, beautifully, terrifyingly honest. We lie there for fifteen more minutes just looking at one another, this new feeling swallowing us both up whole, until Nate finally rolls to his back and then his other side, facing away from me.

More seconds. More minutes. I watch his body rise and fall with every breath, and it’s constant and regular, but I know he’s still awake. Being Cass’s friend, being Paige’s friend, even being Ty’s friend—that’s all part of healing. But what I’m about to do right now has nothing to do with my own personal growth and overcoming my trauma. Being Nate’s friend was a level I left in the dust the second I made his acquaintance. And right now is about me, and the pounding in my chest, and the voice in my head telling me to take what I want.

“Nate?” I speak, my eyes shut tightly.

“Yeah?”

“Can I come over?” I open my eyes as soon as I speak—amazed the words left my lips.

He rolls back over to face me, lifting his blanket open, and I somehow find my balance and tiptoe to the other side of the room, lying down next to him, in the most amazingly safe place I’ve ever felt.

He’s slow with his arm, pulling the top of the blanket over my shoulder and then reaching around the front of my body to pull me in close. He slides his other arm under my head for a pillow, and my head rests heavily on his bicep. I reach up and pull the tie from my hair, dropping it to the floor. Nate’s hand reaches along my arm when I do, and then he runs his fingers up my neck and into my hair, scooping my heavy strands into a pile along my skin. He continues to run his fingers from my hairline to behind my ear, each stroke like a wave crashing over me, making my eyes feel heavy.

“Hey Nate?” I say, my voice barely a whisper.

“Mmmmm,” he says, his nose pressed against the back of my head while he pulls me in closer, continuing to wind my hair through his fingers.

“You should make more wishes,” I say.

“I just made, like, about twenty. But don’t worry. I’m patient.”

Every nerve in my body is tingling from whatever it is we’re doing. This is no longer just flirting. This is levels beyond flirting. And I am about to fall asleep without the help of Ambien for the first time in months.

About the Author

Ginger Scott is a writer and journalist from Peoria, Arizona. She is the author of four young and new adult romances, with her fifth title, This Is Falling, set to release in late August 2014.

Scott has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.

When she's not writing, the odds are high that she's somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Scott is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork 'em, Devils).

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Pair skaters Courtney and Mark have one shot left at their Olympic dream. They vow not to let anything get in their way, especially not Josh and Stephanie, the wealthy and talented brother and sister team.

The heart doesn’t always listen to reason, though...

The more time Courtney spends with sweet, shy Josh, the harder she falls for him. But they are on opposite sides of the competition, and their futures are headed in opposite directions. Will their friendship blossom into more or are their paths too different to cross?EXCERPT

I turned to Josh with my arms folded and my head cocked to the side. “So, you’re an athlete, a dancer and a musician? If you tell me you’re a skilled artist, I’m gonna have to hate you.”

He laughed. “I can barely draw a stick figure.”

“Whew.” I swiped my hand across my forehead.

“Even if I was the next Picasso, though, I wouldn’t have told you.” He paused and held my gaze. “I don’t like the idea of you hating me.”

My stomach fluttered. Josh didn’t often make extended eye contact, but whenever he locked those sinfully blue eyes on mine, I became a mesmerized puddle of swoon.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jennifer Comeaux is a tax accountant by day, writer by night. There aren’t any ice rinks near her home in south Louisiana, but she’s a diehard figure skating fan and loves to write stories of romance set in the world of competitive skating. One of her favorite pastimes is traveling to competitions, where she can experience all the glitz and drama that inspire her writing.

We are absolutely over the moon excited about the Release Day Launch for Courtney Cole's GUARDIAN!!! GUARDIAN is a YA Paranormal Romance, and a book close to Courtney’s heart. Not only is this fabulous book back in a big way, it's Courtney's birthday! To celebrate all of the awesome she is making a few select titles only .99 TODAY ONLY! Grab them all and thank us later.

My name is Whitney Lane. I’m sixteen years old and at first, I thought I was crazy.

I kept seeing shadows move along walls, and hearing whispers around corners, but whenever I looked, there was never anything there.

Until one day, there was.

Our world isn’t what we think. There are things around us, good things, bad things, scary things.

Things that we tell ourselves aren’t real, but they are.

They’re very real, and they’re terrifying.

I’ve been swept up now, in a battle of good and evil, confused about love and what is supposed to be love, but isn’t. I don’t know what to think anymore. I can’t trust my emotions and I don’t know what is true.

I close my eyes and burrow into my pillow as I try to sleep, as I try to escape this life.

It’s a life I never thought I’d have, a life I most certainly don’t want.

I’m still feeling sorry for myself as the blackness of sleep finally overtakes me.

I don’t know what time it is when I shoot straight upward like a rocket. Something had yanked me from the oblivion of sleep, something loud and shrill scraping my window.

My room is completely dark and I glanceat my clock in confusion.

3:00 a.m.

As my heart pounds hard against my ribcage, I quickly scan every corner of the room.

In the last few hours, dark shadows had migrated onto my pink walls, but they’re familiar, nothing out of the ordinary, although in the night, they seem twisted and scary.

I remain motionless as I allow the sleep-induced fog to clear from my brain.

As I sit, I feel common sense and logic slowly returning.

Of course nothing had touched my window because my bedroom is on the second floor. Nothing can reach it. And there are no trees near enough to brush against it. It was just a dream.

It was only a dream.

I chant it silently to myself like a mantra as I consciously slow my breathing down, hoping that my racing pulse will soon follow. It was only a dream.

But just as I’m calming down, I hear it again.

A high-pitched shrill shriek, reminiscent of fingernails on a chalkboard, scraping down my window. I gasp and pull my feet up to my chest, which is when I notice the temperature.

I notice because I can see my breath.

Timidly, I blow a puff out again, watching the way my breath turns white in the air.

Holy crap. Oh my God.

What the hell?

The sound stops and stillness surrounds me once again, the silence so loud that it echoes in my ear.

Nothing moves around me, the shadows are perfectly still as they twist across my wall. They look like mangled fingers and arms and legs, but they don’t move.

My legs are weak and shaking, but I know I have to move. I have to move off my bed because it feels like something is under it. Something terrifying.

With a leap, I bound across the room, my feet hitting the floor several feet away from the edge of my bed.

The floor is ice cold, as though it had been covered in a blanket of snow.

I’m trembling as I race to the far wall and check the thermostat. Because that’s the only explanation. I must’ve bumped it earlier, I must’ve turned the AC way down.

But the luminous numbers stare at me in contradiction.

74 degrees.

It must be broken. It has to be broken.

My breath is coming in pants now, terrified, anxious pants.

My fear isn’t logical. I know there’s nothing here. I’m the only one in this room.

Or am I?

The air seems to push at me from all around, something dark, something heavy, something real. Something unseen.

My fingers shake, my legs tremble, and then all of a sudden, they can no longer support my weight. I go down like a pile of bricks, collapsing onto the floor. I lie still because I can’t move, because something seems to sit on my chest, holding me down.

The shadows start to move, to slither across the walls, to reach and pull and dance.

I struggle to focus, to see what it is.

But all I can see are the numbers on the thermostat suddenly moving, rapidly counting down from 74 to 20.

Twenty degrees?

The air is frigid as I suck it in, as I try to pull the ice crystals into my mouth so I can breathe.

All of a sudden, there’s a blackness in front of me. It hovers over me, a shapeless mass, sucking in the cells of the air, the atoms and the molecules. It’s darker than the blackness of my room, blacker than the blackest black.

Something is here.

With me.

“Dad?” I whisper in a white puff. Because what else could it be?

I reach out a finger to touch it, and then I can’t see anything else, because the darkness of it surrounds me, bleeding into everything else, even my vision. The shriek is back, screaming into my ears, bleeding into my brain.

Then there’s nothing.

To celebrate the release of GUARDIAN and Courtney's birthday the following books are on sale for .99, today only!

Courtney Cole is a novelist who would eat mythology for breakfast if she could. She has a degree in Business, but has since discovered that corporate America is not nearly as fun to live in as fictional worlds. She loves chocolate and roller coasters and hates waiting and rude people.

Courtney lives in quiet suburbia, close to Lake Michigan, with her real-life Prince Charming, her ornery kids (there is a small chance that they get their orneriness from their mother) and a small domestic zoo.

Within these walls, he became my solace, my sanctuary and my strength.

I am not strong. I am just a survivor of circumstance.

Isn’t that what we all do? Survive?

Each of us has our own set of circumstances to muddle through. Mine are just more…complicated.

Born with a severe heart defect, I’ve seen the inside of a hospital room more than my own bedroom.

I was drowning, a prisoner to the illness that owned me, until he appeared. He thinks he’s blocked out the world with his tattoos and hard exterior, but I see the real Jude, the one he so desperately wants to forget.

But is he the answer to my prayers or will he break my already damaged heart forever?

My name is Lailah Buchanan, and this is our story of hope, redemption and sacrificing it all for the one you love.

“Yeah, you’re sweet and endearing one minute and then brushing me off the next. I don’t get it. What do you want from me? Am I a charity case? Do you get off on hanging out with the poor sick girl but then tire of me easily?”

Closing the last few inches between us, I got in her face. “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I hissed.

“No,” she answered, “I really don’t. You don’t tell me anything. You are this big, giant mystery that I know nothing about. Why is that, Jude?”

“It’s too much,” I simply said.

“You mean, I can’t handle it,” she inferred.

“That’s not what I said, Lailah.”

“No, but that’s what you meant. You’re just like everyone else. I’m too fragile. I’m too weak. Let’s sugarcoat the truth, so it doesn’t upset Lailah. God forbid that we upset her,” she said in a mocking tone. “Well, I’m neither weak nor fragile. I’ve endured more pain than most people see in a lifetime, so don’t think for one single second that I can’t handle anything you can.”

“I know you can.”

“Then, why put me through all this? Do you even care a little about me?” Her voice was quiet and timid.

“I care too f**king much, Lailah.”

Without a second thought, I grabbed the nape of her neck and pulled her body to mine before fusing our mouths together. She gasped in surprise, pulling back slightly, but then she surrendered, melting into me completely. My hands tightened around her waist as I deepened our kiss. I knew this had to be her first kiss, and I intended to make sure it was well worth the wait.About J.L. Berg

J.L. Berg is the USA Today bestselling author of the Ready Series. She is a California native living in the beautiful state of historic Virginia. Married to her high school sweetheart, they have two beautiful girls that drive them batty on a daily basis. When she's not writing, you will find her with her nose stuck in a romance novel, in a yoga studio or devouring anything chocolate. J.L. Berg is represented by Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, LLC.

Arianna 'Ari' Williams thought she experienced the depths of true love until the man of her dreams dismissed her with no explanation. Heartbroken and humiliated, she found herself changing the course of her life and picking up the pieces of her shattered heart. Now four years later, she has a successful career, amazing friends, and a young son with crystal blue eyes that reminds her every day of the love she imagined. Emotionally she has moved on but the wounds never healed.

Reed Matthews has it all. Playing professional football was his always his dream. Being one of the most successful wide receivers in the league comes with money, fame, and all the women he wants. Even with all his wishes coming true, he never stops thinking of the one woman that owned his soul four years ago.

A chance encounter brings Reed to the realization that Ari Williams not only hid a life changing secret from him, but also things weren't as they seemed all those years ago. He's determined to get her back and build their lives together.

When the truth behind their deception is revealed- friendships are tested, families are torn apart, and the one person behind it all is relentless.

Ahren spent her formative years living in an active volcano. There her family made collectible lava art. She studied rock collecting at the Sorbonne in France. There she met the love of her life-her pet pig Sybil. She returned to the states and started writing. She is happily married to a guy who used to live under a bridge and she met while pole-dancing. They have one amazing daughter.

Now, meet the real me. I grew up in the south and consider myself a true “Southerner”. Most of the special locations mentioned in my books are reflections of my favorite places. Living on the Florida coast, my family spends a lot time at the beach which is where I usually can be found with a book in my hand. I started writing my Surrender Series, in the spring of 2013 and have received incredible support from the Indie community. Throughout this year, I have been privileged to meet some amazing people that I am thankful to have in my life.

Tortured and existing in a dark spiral of despair, bestselling British author, Gavin Cooke, has come to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to escape the seedy lifestyle he had been living in London and in a desperate attempt to regain his writing focus. He’s twisted, bitter and angry at the world. He’s a loner… needing not a single thing other than his Scotch and a laptop upon which he can bang out his next erotic, dark thriller.

She’s running in place and getting nowhere…

Savannah Shepherd’s life is falling apart. Her dream of being a wildlife photographer seems a distant memory and she’s barely able to make ends meet. Driving herself forward with no clear goals apparent, she’s about ready to pack up her bags and head home with her tail between her legs.

Two unlikely lovers…

He’s raw, forceful and a dirty talker. She’s a flowers and romance type of girl. Yet within each other, they find a mutual craving that can only be satisfied by giving in to their desires for one another.

Lust turns into something more… something they were not looking for but tentatively accept. Will it be enough to push them past the obstacles of Gavin’s bitter past?

USA Today Best-Selling author, Sawyer Bennett, is a snarky southern woman and reformed trial lawyer who decided to finally start putting on paper all of the stories that were floating in her head. She is married to a mobster (well, a market researcher) and they have two big, furry dogs who hog the bed. Sawyer would like to report she doesn’t have many weaknesses but can be bribed with a nominal amount of milk chocolate.

Today is the release day for DANTE'S FIRE, the newest title from NYTs bestselling author Jennifer Probst. Be sure to check out the rafflecopter below for a chance to win some fabulous prizes from Jennifer.

BOOK INFORMATION:

DANTE'S FIRE by Jennifer Probst

August 26th, 2014

Adult Paranormal Romance

DANTE'S FIRE Synopsis:

It’s Time To Meet A New Kind Of Hero...

Dante Stark has a dark secret--a legacy left to him by his father which is both a blessing and a curse. A traumatic experience as a small boy gave him special powers of healing, but it comes with a price. Destined to wander the world alone to heal others, he's accepted his fate. Until Selina Rogers forces him to confront his deepest fears, erotic desires, and question his capacity to love.

Selina Rogers has made a name for herself at Inferno Enterprises. She's tough, confident and prepared to succeed. She's also built a world she believes is safe, until she's attacked and then saved by a masked stranger. As he helps her heal physically and emotionally, she becomes fascinated by his overwhelming power and gentle touch. Determined to show Dante the love he's been denying himself, Selina surrenders her heart, and dreams of a future with the mysterious man who completes her.

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Jennifer Probst - Bio:
Jennifer Probst wrote her first book at twelve years old. She bound it in a folder, read it to her classmates, and hasn’t stopped writing since. She took a short hiatus to get married, get pregnant, buy a house, get pregnant again, pursue a master’s in English Literature, and rescue two shelter dogs. Now she is writing again.

She makes her home in Upstate New York with the whole crew. Her sons keep her active, stressed, joyous, and sad her house will never be truly clean.
She is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of sexy and erotic contemporary romance. She was thrilled her book, The Marriage Bargain, was ranked #6 on Amazon's Best Books for 2012. She loves hearing from readers. Visit her website for updates on new releases and her street team at www.jenniferprobst.com.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Release Day Launch for Ann Aguirre's I WANT IT THAT WAY! I WANT IT THAT WAY is a New Adult contemporary romance and is the first book in the 2B Trilogy Series, published by Harlequin HQN. We are already in love with this series and Ann's characters! Read the excerpt, then go grab your copy today!!

Nadia Conrad has big dreams, and she’s determined to make them come true. But between maintaining her college scholarship and working at the local day care to support herself, dating’s the last thing on her mind. Then she moves into a new apartment and meets the taciturn yet irresistible guy in 1B….

Daniel Tyler has grown up too fast. Becoming a single dad at twenty turned his life upside down—and brought him heartache he can’t risk again. Now, as he raises his four-year-old son while balancing a full-time construction management job and night classes, the last thing he wants is noisy students living in the apartment upstairs. But one night, Nadia’s and Ty’s paths cross, and soon they can’t stay away from each other.

The timing is all wrong—but love happens when it happens. And you can’t know what you truly need until you stand to lose it.

"A tender, sweet, and sexy story about how life—and falling in love—can never be planned."

—Jennifer L. Armentrout, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wait for You

Michigan was a long way from home. “I usually get ‘not in Nebraska anymore’ jokes, and then I have to decide if I’m going to remind them that’s Kansas or play along.”

“What do you usually do?”

“Play along.”

“You don’t like conflict, huh?” He sounded normal tonight, as if talking to me wasn’t an unpleasant chore anymore.

That was a relief since I’d come to look forward to these moments with him so much. More, maybe, than I’d like to admit. Right. Friends. I distracted myself by considering his question. “Not if it can be avoided. I’m not what you’d call pugnacious, no. But I like to think I don’t back off important issues. What about you?”

“No.” His voice was bleak and quiet. “I don’t. Even when I should.”

Wow, that took a dark turn.

If I could’ve jumped onto his patio without breaking an ankle or waking Sam, I’d have been down there like a shot. The distance between us seemed intolerable, and from the knot in my throat, I didn’t see how I could live another second without touching him, finding out if his hair was as soft as it looked or what he smelled like. I wanted him in a way I never had before.

In high school, I had a boyfriend who played basketball, and we broke up when I left the state. It was a rational decision, and I didn’t miss him that much once I was gone. My freshman year, I went out with a lot of different guys, one date here, two dates there, but I never clicked with anyone enough to focus on them. Sometimes there were hookups with no strings, no expectations. Classes, friends and work seemed a lot more important. The intensity of this attraction was foreign and frightening, if exhilarating. I might already be backing off if I had the faintest sense that Ty was jerking me around on purpose.

Wish he didn’t make me feel this way. It’d be so much simpler if I could friend-zone him.

I realized I still hadn’t touched his verbal grenade. “We all have things we’d do differently in hindsight.”

“What is it about you?” he asked in a wondering tone.

“Huh?”

“You make me…better. Calmer.”

“Like a sedative?” I snickered. It was the least sexy thing a guy had ever said to me, including a junior high squeeze who said my face wasn’t actually that bad.

He laughed, too, a sheepish sound. “I didn’t mean it like that. Just…I’m worried pretty much all the time that I’m dropping the ball somewhere, about to face-plant, but when I come out here and hear your voice, everything backs off like ten steps. I can breathe again.”

My Review

Sweet, heartfelt, emotional...and HOT-all of these describe this fantastic romance from Ann Aguirre. The writing was very good-not perfect, some areas felt a bit drawn out like there was a bit more filler than necessary-and the storyline kept my attention throughout the whole book. If it wasn't for having to work (and sleep LOL), I would have plowed through this in a single sitting.

The characters were written so well, they felt real-no corniness or over the top attitudes-and like they could be my friends in real life. Nadia is such a sweetheart and so devoted to her friends and the plan she's made for herself. And Ty...oh, Ty...the things he says and does. How could anyone not fall in love with him? He's so strong and totally dedicated to his son. As I read, I wanted so very badly for everything to work out for him and Nadia as you could see he truly deserved happiness in his life.

I was freaking out just past the 75% point, but soon found that Nadia's strength and perseverance regarding their relationship would come in handy...because you can't plan how, when, where or who you'll fall in love with.

I loved this story, and can't wait to read more from this author. 4.5 amazing stars!

About Ann Aguirre:

Ann Aguirre is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author and RITA winner with a degree in English Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a clown, a clerk, a voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives in sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various pets. Ann likes books, emo music, action movies, and she writes all kinds of genre fiction for adults and teens, published with Harlequin, Macmillan, and Penguin, among others.

We are beyond excited about the Release Day Launch of Nichole Chase's RELUCTANTLY ROYAL!! RELUCTANTLY ROYAL is a New Adult contemporary romance novel being published by HarperCollins Avon imprint and is the third book in Nichole Chase’s Suddenly Series. We love the swoony romance in these books and this one delivers in spades!

Maxwell Jameson Trevor, prince of Lilaria, hates his royal role. Despising the limelight, he takes solace in his art studio and steers clear of any drama. But when one of the newly discovered royals passes away, Maxwell's brother Alex asks him to break the news to the old man's granddaughter. Though he hates to be the bearer of doom and gloom, he doesn't want the poor girl to find out from the tabloids. For Maxwell knows all too well how devastating that could be.

Coming from a broken home and modest background, newly ordained Lady Meredith Thysmer has seized her chance to make a better life for herself and her son. She's not afraid to use her best assets to get what she wants. But when the unpretentious yet devastatingly handsome Max delivers his news, her plans for the future come crashing to a halt. In the challenging days ahead, Max's compassion, humor, and steadfast loyalty to Meredith and her son win her over. She quickly finds herself doing something she swore would never happen again: falling in love. And yet Maxwell still refuses to completely drop his guard. Somehow Meredith's got to find a way to seduce this reluctant royal.

Excerpt:

As I turned to leave the room, my eyes fell on a sketch pad and I couldn’t help myself. Sitting back down in the chair I flipped it open and smiled at the drawings inside. Marty had promise for such a young kid. Turning to a blank page, I glanced around and searched for a pencil. Charcoal would be best, but pencil would do.

I started with the lines of his forehead, the curve of his impish nose, the roundness of his cheeks. I was lost in the sketch, enjoying the shadows, the tenderness in his expression, working to capture that moment of utter innocence.

“That’s beautiful.” Her voice was soft.

I looked up from what I was doing, not surprised that she had snuck up on me. When I’m lost in a project, the world disappears; the only thing I’m aware of are the layers of the project I’m working on.

“He’s a good subject.” I turned back to the paper and finished up the shading of the blanket.

“Only because he’s asleep and not moving.” Her quiet laugh sent shivers over my body.

“That does help.” I smiled up at her. “But it’s the contrast. The contrast of him awake versus him asleep. He looks so young right now, so innocent.”

“What do you mean?” She leaned closer to look at the picture.

“He’s so mature, quick-witted.” I whispered the words. “But here he is, looking like the child he is.”

“I’d say so.” I turned and handed her the sketch pad. “I hope you don’t mind that I drew him. The light and shadows were too perfect to resist.” Sort of like her right now. The way the moonlight glinted in her eyes and shone along her hair. Her perfect features would make any artist ache to draw them. Her pixie nose, the heavy eyelashes, the curve of her body hinted at by the oversized sweater she had wrapped around herself. It made my palms itch. Partly because I just wanted to touch her, to see if she would taste as sweet as she looked in that moment.

“Thank you for keeping him entertained.” She stood up. “Can I keep this?”

“Of course.” I stood up and stretched. Her eyes swept over my chest and then back up to my face. Maybe I wasn’t the only one tempted to touch. I hated to admit it, but I had a flare of pride. “I enjoyed hanging out with him.”

I was surprised to realize I meant it. I never would have thought spending time with a six-year-old would have been enjoyable.

“Looks like he did too.” She moved away from the door and I followed her into the hallway.

“Did you get everything settled?”

“I think so.” She frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Her expression worried me.

“Granddad would have hated a large ceremony.” She sighed and headed for the stairs. “But I guess that as a duke there are some things that have to happen.”

“I don’t blame your grandfather.” I followed behind her. “I would want a small ceremony, not to be made into a production.”

“I’m starting to think you don’t like any type of production.” She looked at me over shoulder.

“Not really, no.” I wasn’t going to lie. “I don’t like being the focus, being the center of attention. It makes me uncomfortable.” I wasn’t going to lie, but I hadn’t intended to tell her so much about me.

“And yet you agreed to help me with my grandfather’s funeral.” She turned to me at the bottom of the stairs and set the sketch pad on a table. “Why?”

I stared at her for a minute, enjoying the way her eyes looked up at me, the tilt of her chin, the way her hair cascaded around her shoulders. “I don’t know.”

Unable to help myself, I reached out and touched her cheek with my fingers. Her pupils dilated and she inhaled softly. With one thumb I traced the dip under her plump bottom lip. Her hand reached up to trace my jaw and she took a step closer to me.

“You should be running from me as fast as you can.” She whispered the words. “I’m everything you don’t want.”

“I’m not so sure.”

“I live for the spotlight, it’s my food.” Her eyes were half lidded as she edged closer to my mouth. “And you’ve seen my family. I’m trouble, Max.”

Did I care? I wasn’t sure I was capable of making a real decision as her smell wrapped around my senses. The only thing I knew was that I wanted to taste her, to touch her, to press her against my body. To hear her say my name again.

Dipping my head, I grazed her lips with mine and I was lost. On a sigh, she leaned into me and wrapped her hands around my neck. Tilting her head back, I brought my mouth to hers carefully, softly, tasting. I wanted to deepen the kiss, to hear her moan, to feel the way her body could wrap around mine, but I kept it soft, sweet, and simple. She was in such a hard place, she needed to be protected, treasured by someone.

And right now, I was that person.

Nichole Chase Bio:

Nichole Chase is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Suddenly Royal, Flukes, The Dark Betrayal Trilogy, and several short stories. She is also the instructor of Say What? a dialogue class at the Romance Academy.

Nichole lives in Georgia with her husband, energetic daughter, superhero dog, Sulcata tortoise, and two cats. When not writing, you may find her reading, painting, crafting, or chasing her daughter around the house while making monster noises.

Jason Sutherland is a billionaire investor who has it all: good looks,
billions of dollars, and every expensive toy a man could ever want. What
he doesn’t have is the one thing he wants the most: Hope Sinclair.
Unfortunately Hope, the little sister of his best friend, was off
limits. But when he finds out that she’s getting married, he decides
that he’s staking his claim before it’s too late, and it will take more
than a little deception and risk to accomplish his goal. Hope could end
up hating his guts, but after spending one forbidden night with her that
he can’t forget, he knows he has to try to make her his forever.

Hope Sinclair was born into money, but being rich has never made her
happy. The one thing she wants is a man to care about her and not her
bank account. The closest thing she’s ever found to real happiness was
the magical, passionate night she’d spent in the arms of Jason
Sutherland…until that night turned into heartbreak. So when he
unexpectedly comes back into her life in the strangest of ways, Hope is
determined to resist her attraction to him.

Thrown together by Jason’s deception and with their passion still
burning hot, can the two of them survive after the billionaire is
unmasked?

18+ only. Not suitable for children and teens under 18.

If you want to try the prequel first you can check out Jason and Hope in this short read

Down on her luck, nursing student and full-time waitress Kara Foster gets a
massive blow to her already desperate financial situation that will
surely find her living on the streets. Needing nothing less than a
miracle to save her, Kara gets rescue from an unknown, unlikely and
overwhelming source. Billionaire Simon Hudson makes her an offer that is
impossible to refuse, but terrifying to accept from a man that she's
never met. Will the handsome, alpha billionaire really be a solution to
her problems, or will he end up being a major complication and a danger
to her emotional sanity?

Reclusive billionaire Simon Hudson would
rather be behind a computer creating computer games than rubbing elbows
with the elite and he knows exactly what he wants...until he meets Kara
Foster. Something about Kara touches Simon in ways he's never
experienced and definitely doesn't like. For over a year, Simon watches
over Kara, but stubbornly refuses to admit his desire to possess her,
not even to himself. But when she ends up in a situation that could very
well be her destruction, Simon steps up to help her, not realizing that
in saving Kara, he might very well be salvaging his own soul.

"Mine For Tonight" is book one of "The Billionaire's Obsession" . Books in
this trilogy do not stand alone and need to be read in order. They
include:

Down on her luck, nursing student and full-time waitress Kara Foster gets a
massive blow to her already desperate financial situation that will
surely find her living on the streets. Needing nothing less than a
miracle to save her, Kara gets rescue from an unknown, unlikely and
overwhelming source. Billionaire Simon Hudson makes her an offer that is
impossible to refuse, but terrifying to accept from a man that she's
never met. Will the handsome, alpha billionaire really be a solution to
her problems, or will he end up being a major complication and a danger
to her emotional sanity?

Reclusive billionaire Simon Hudson would rather be behind a computer creating
computer games than rubbing elbows with the elite and he knows exactly
what he wants...until he meets Kara Foster. Something about Kara touches
Simon in ways he's never experienced and definitely doesn't like. For
over a year, Simon watches over Kara, but stubbornly refuses to admit
his desire to possess her, not even to himself. But when she ends up in a
situation that could very well be her destruction, Simon steps up to
help her, not realizing that in saving Kara, he might very well be
salvaging his own soul.

The Billionaire’s Obsession – The Complete Collection (Simon and Kara’s

story) first is highly recommended to enhance your reading pleasure.

Sam and Maddie are here!

Billionaire Sam Hudson has pretty much lived his life with no apologies because he
tries never to do anything that he’s sorry about…except for what he had
done in the past to Dr. Madeline Reynolds. Many years and regrets later,
Sam meets up with Maddie again by chance; his brother Simon is marrying
Maddie’s best friend and the two of them are forced to be civil. But
Sam wants to be more than polite, and he wants another chance to make
things right, so he offers Maddie a bold proposition, an offer he knows
she’ll have a very hard time declining even though she hates him.

Dr. Madeline Reynolds adores her best friend Kara and her fiancé Simon, but
being forced into the company of Sam Hudson, because they are both in
Simon and Kara’s wedding, is pure torture. She’s hated Sam for years,
but when he offers her a bargain, something near and dear to her heart,
she’s torn between her dislike for the man and the offer of something
she’s always desperately wanted. Once, Sam Hudson nearly destroyed her,
but Maddie discovers that sometimes things aren’t always what they
appear to be. Is Sam really a devious heartbreaker, or is there
something more to him beneath the surface?

Can two people with so many years of hurt between them learn to trust each other again?

Please note: This is an erotic romance and not appropriate for YA readers.
The book contains graphic sex, language and situations not appropriate
for YA readers.

Billionaire Max Hamilton thought he was finally starting to find contentment, more
than two years after losing his wife Mia in a tragic drowning accident.

He'd been reunited with a sister he hadn’t realized existed. Finally he had
family again, a reprieve from the pain and loneliness that had haunted
him since his devastating loss. Yeah…he was as happy as a man could be,
considering he had lost the other half of his soul and most of his heart
when fate had torn his wife away from him.

Or so he believed…until the day he rescued a mysterious woman in the park,
a female who somehow had managed to reignite a part of him that he
thought was long dead...

Suddenly, Max's protective, dominant, possessive male instincts flare to life,
leaving him at a loss as to how lightning could possibly strike twice in
one lifetime. Is he truly being given another chance at real happiness,
or would it be dangled in front of him, only to be taken away once
again?

Find out by reading The Billionaire’s Salvation, Book 3 in The New York
Times Bestselling series, The Billionaire’s Obsession. This is a
complete contemporary erotic romance novel with no cliffhangers!

With his professional football career over due to a tragic accident,
billionaire Kade Harrison takes on the task of solving a mystery for his
brother-in-law and friend, Max Hamilton. Without his former career to
fill every minute of the day, Kade's looking for something to challenge
him--now that he's lost the career that had meant everything to him.
But what starts out as a simple favor soon becomes a whole lot more than
he bargained for when the woman he's seeking slips away from him every
time he gets close to finding her. When Kade does finally corner her,
things start to get even more complicated. Asha Paritala is nothing
like he expected, and the female he had tracked down as a favor for Max
soon becomes a woman he wants for his very own, a woman who makes
protective and highly predatory instincts he didn't know he had flare to
life inside him. Kade soon discovers that he wants Asha's total
surrender to the desire and passion that vibrates intensely between the
two of them, but he also wants her trust, the one thing Asha's history
makes it difficult for her to give. Can Kade convince her that some
things are worth risking it all?

Caught between two worlds, Asha Paritala is homeless, broke and damaged from a
life of abuse and neglect. Born of an American mother and an Indian
immigrant father, Asha was raised as an Indian woman by a foster family
after the death of her natural parents when she was little more than a
baby. She's spent her entire life under the control of others until
finally breaking free two years earlier, and she's determined to keep
her freedom, even if it means she has to struggle to survive. But when
she meets Kade Harrison, her resolve is tested. After Kade helps her
through a bad situation, she finds herself beginning to trust Kade as
she's never trusted a man before. Kade is everything she always
thought a man should be, but can she lose herself in him completely when
she knows she's damaged and confused. And is it really possible that
she could be a lost sibling to two people like Max Hamilton and Maddie
Hudson? Asha is tempted by the possibility of family, and the
irresistible lure of a man like Kade Harrison. Can a woman caught
between two cultures, so flawed and so backward, really reach out and
take what she wants, or will the instinct to run from the pain of her
past destroy the hope of happiness for her future?

Find out if two broken souls can heal each other in The Billionaire's Game, book 4 of The Billionaire's Obsession series!!

This is a complete novel with no cliffhangers. 18+ due to sexual situations and graphic language.

After four years of working for “the billionaire boss from hell” Ally
Caldwell thinks she finally has her life on the right track. Her fiancé
is out of dental school, ready to go to work at a thriving practice, and
it would finally be her turn to go back and finish her college degree.
Unfortunately, her carefully planned future crumbles when she finds out
that her fiancé, the man she’d nearly killed herself to help get through
school, has been cheating on her. With her wedding looming in the near
future, Ally’s blindsided, realizing she’d never even knew the man she’d
been planning to marry. Suddenly, her carefully organized life is
turned upside down, and not one single thing is turning out the way it
was supposed to happen. Even her boss, Travis the Tyrant, is beginning
to act differently, throwing Ally into an even more confused and chaotic
state of mind. Travis, the one man who she’d always counted on to be a
jerk, was now the guy who actually steps up to try and help her
straighten her life out again. Unfortunately, she doesn’t much care for
his highhanded arrogance or his methods of “helping.” Ally wants to hate
Travis. It makes her life so much simpler to fight with him than to
admit to the combustible chemistry growing between the two of them. But
as she begins to see more and more of the real Travis beneath his dark
façade, she can’t seem to resist the dangerous lure of their unlikely
attraction.

Billionaire Travis Harrison does everything he possibly can to repair the Harrison name after a scandal nearly destroyed his family years ago. He makes sure he keeps himself
and his actions in check, his emotions buried under a thick layer of
ice. Only his secretary and assistant, Alison Caldwell, makes him come
close to losing his carefully constructed image. The obstinate female
keeps shoving him closer and closer to the edge of sanity every single
day. But when he finds out about her fiancé’s betrayal, his protective
instincts roar to life inside him, making him want to ensure she’s never
hurt again. The only problem is…Ally doesn’t want his help, and the
infuriating woman does everything she can to push him away, even as the
two of them are swept into an undeniable passion that neither of them
can possibly ignore. Before long, Travis finds himself in ruthless
pursuit of something much more important and elusive than just a
business deal.

Can these two very different, very stubborn
people actually be meant to be together? Find out if Travis and Ally can
let down their defenses and surrender to a love so powerful it will
rock them to the depths of their souls in Billionaire Undone, Book Five
of The Billionaire’s Obsession series.

About The Author

J.S. Scott is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of steamy
romance. She's an avid reader of all types of books and literature.
Writing what she loves to read, J.S. Scott writes both contemporary
erotic romance stories and paranormal romance erotics. They almost
always feature an Alpha Male and have a happily ever after because she
just can't seem to write them any other way!

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